Papers run daily stories about this. It's another of those L.A. things.

Background:

The latest thing in L.A. is non-docking scooters that go 15 mph. You rent them from a typically youth-trendy Silicon Beach/Santa Monica company with an app that finds the nearest ones. You pay by the minute, then leave them anywhere.

The usual people think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. The city council thinks they'll become an alternative to driving. Only problem is, right now they're making walking close to impossible in some places, especially near the beach. They've taken over.

Situation:

It's common knowledge that you're supposed to ride them in bike lanes. L.A. doesn't have many bike lanes. The street is too scary. Everybody rides them on the sidewalk. Even your typical skinny trendy gym-going millennial has considerable inertial mass when traveling 15 MPH. Sidewalks are becoming dangerous in a lot of places, and unusable in a few. It's also the law that you need the same helmet you'd use on a bike. No helmets.

Beverly Hills banned the things until they could craft an appropriate city ordinance. There are still plenty of these in Beverly Hills. Santa Monica and L.A. put a cap on them and declared something of a moratorium. Same effect, as in none.

Effect:

For some people, it's a war. Local nooz is having a great time covering all the people who vandalize the things. Since it's mostly the beach with the worst problem, a lot of them wind up in the Pacific Ocean. Dumpsters are also popular, though since the company tracks them with augmented GPS/WAAS/whatever, that only means they take them back out again.

NB: I'm not one of those people.

Interesting part:

Considerable mention is given to digital disruption. I thought I was the only one who had had it with cute little 23-year-old billionaires in Silicon Beach finding new ways to profit from completely trashing the urban social ecology pretty much monthly. Apparently, I'm not. The reasons for damaging the scooters sound pretty much like the ones for shooting at the Google bus in SF. It brings in other issues that weren't caused by the company but which it is identified with.

Future:

Hopefully, more awareness that business ventures can have unforeseen consequences.

_________________We used to hang our traitors. Now we elect them to lead us.

The problem isn't just confined to scooter but dockless bikes as well. In the San Diego area, you can see these bikes and scooters abandoned all over the place. Where I live, in Coronado, the police place a warning notice on them and if they aren't removed within 72 hours they confiscate them. They will then notify the companies to pick up their bikes and scooter by a certain date. If they're not picked up after 90 days the police will destroy them. Each bike confiscated carries a $45 fine and a $1 a day storage fee. Recently, two companies picked up their bikes and scooters paying a total of over $90,000 in fines and fees.

_________________Who are these...flag-sucking halfwits fleeced fooled by stupid little rich kids They speak for all that is cruel stupidThey are racists hate mongers I piss down the throats of these Nazis Im too old to worry whether they like it Fuck them.HST.

It's similar to a dockless bike in that you scan the code on the scooter. A signal is sent via the internet to the scooter to unlock it and then you ride the electric scooter to where you want. Once you're finished you scan the code to lock the scooter.

The ones in Libertas' photo are sleeker than ours, which are inflicted, oops I mean provided, by a startup in Santa Monica called Bird. Ours are black and clunky. They weigh more than you'd think, adding to the inertial mass when a millennial bags you at 15 MPH.

Older systems, notably for bicycles, used docks. You checked one out at a dock, and returned it at a dock. These, you just pick up and leave anywhere. Good: it's way more convenient. Bad: the sidewalks become littered with the idle ones.

They actually might make a valid contribution if they weren't making the sidewalks dangerous. Also it's become something of a generational war. Also there's the ongoing reaction to digital disruption. BTW, I didn't name it that. That's what the 23-year-old billionaires like to call it. They're joyfully trashing urban ecologies dating to right after WWII, and laughing all the way to the bank.

New York is cracking down, for all the good it will do, but they are. One can argue that Lyft and Uber are more convenient than medallion taxis, but they didn't do anything for the unemployed taxi drivers. Also one can argue that AirBnB is convenient, but it made NYC rents go up because rent controlled apartments were turned into short term rentals.

L.A.'s version of a crackdown is having one council meeting about it, passing a resolution saying naughty naughty, and kicking the can forward. Rinse and repeat. They did put some legal teeth in the helmet and no-sidewalk rules, but there's no one to enforce them.

Etc..

_________________We used to hang our traitors. Now we elect them to lead us.

I believe the ones in the photo are Lime. We're starting to get those too. They're less ugly than the Birds, which look like miniature SWAT vehicles.

I call those bikes (S)Lime bikes. They're a public eyesore. You can see them littering the sidewalks by Naval Base San Diego and just inside the exit gate (Third Street) at North Island there are about 20 of those bikes.

Quote:

I can see that coastal L.A. is going to be the test case here. The people who gripe the most also tend to be the richest, whitest, and most heavily lawyered. Myself, I'm neutral.

The problem with the bikes and scooters is they're wherever the most people are walking. That's usually downtown areas and along the beaches.

We have a skirmish. A woman claims to have had her life threatened for being in a scooter's way on the sidewalk, and police have been notified. I'm sure it's not the first time.

Meanwhile people are tweeting that scooters will turn L.A. into the city of the future. Tell that to the homeless and ganstas.

I did my usual Sunday morning bike ride around San Diego Bay and as I was passing the dock to the ferry to Coronado there was a guy riding an electric scooter with his 5-6 year old son. Neither of them wore a helmet and they were weaving around the sidewalk without regard to the pedestrians, bicyclists, or joggers. Since this area is a tourist area I figure he was a tourist. It seems when people on vacation they loose all sense of responsibility and awareness of their surroundings. Most likely they're self-centered jerks at home as well.

The war is over. Nooz trumpets the first "severe" limits on scooters in L.A..

These "severe" limits are 10,000 for Bird and 10,000 for Lyme. And of course these are all in the western part of the city where they don't get boosted in the first 5 minutes after deployment.

20,000 scooters in an area that's maybe 8 by 12 miles. Oh my god, says Z sarcastically. How will those poor people ever make money?

One more thing, though. The companies had to start redlining them. If the GPS sees they're in an area that has banned them, the thing shuts off and the millennial comes to a grinding halt.

Round-up the scooters, melt them, and recycle them. We have enough drivers, motorcyclists, and bicycle riders who barely know the rules of the road without have to add a bunch of Yahoos riding scooters on the sidewalks.

Here the demographic is more like earnest millennials who think their generation is going to put an end to the motor car forever. Therefore, it's your duty to defer to them in all cases, and let them take over the city.

Presumably we'll adapt, then another digital disruption will occur. Like making anyone who wants health insurance wear monitoring equipment like people out on bail do now.

_________________We used to hang our traitors. Now we elect them to lead us.

Here the demographic is more like earnest millennials who think their generation is going to put an end to the motor car forever. Therefore, it's your duty to defer to them in all cases, and let them take over the city.

Presumably we'll adapt, then another digital disruption will occur. Like making anyone who wants health insurance wear monitoring equipment like people out on bail do now.

Well, I should, ha. Personally, I only have to worry about getting run over by these kids when I'm in Oakland. Downtown Oakland at that. I used to date somebody in East Oakland, though that was years ago. Not sure how many scooter-users are in those parts, but I am guessing probably not that many.

Well, I should, ha. Personally, I only have to worry about getting run over by these kids when I'm in Oakland. Downtown Oakland at that. I used to date somebody in East Oakland, though that was years ago. Not sure how many scooter-users are in those parts, but I am guessing probably not that many.

The City of San Francisco bought a bunch of those side by side two wheel electric things that balance unless the person is a klutz. I was hoofing it on sidewalks and driving around there a lot during work. I guess the city advertised for klutz's to come ride them around, they had helmets, we afoot needed helmets and pads.

I felt pretty safe in my work van. One of them put a dent in it though. Another dent in it got on the Bay Bridge when a motorcycle splitting lanes found there wasn't enough room. That van attracted two wheel things.

The City of San Francisco bought a bunch of those side by side two wheel electric things that balance unless the person is a klutz. I was hoofing it on sidewalks and driving around there a lot during work. I guess the city advertised for klutz's to come ride them around, they had helmets, we afoot needed helmets and pads.

I felt pretty safe in my work van. One of them put a dent in it though. Another dent in it got on the Bay Bridge when a motorcycle splitting lanes found there wasn't enough room. That van attracted two wheel things.

A Segway magnet. Yes I have seen those used by some security types, though I'm not sure they're SF public types.

There's a guy who has become noteworthy over the years for zipping one around the Mission district, complete with big Bose speaker blaring Latin music strapped to his back, and a tiny lapdog - teacup poodle or pug or such, can't remember. Big fella/tiny dog - so SF.

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